Kissing Sam Carter
by Rysler
Summary: Janet and Teal'c return from a mission to a SGC that's just a little...off. There's only one way for Dr. Fraiser to find the right reality.


Kissing Sam Carter

Author: Rysler  
Email: strmscalmaol.com  
Rating: PG  
Pairings: Sam/Janet, established relationship  
Category: Fluff  
Date: 04/29/04  
Website: MGM owns them. I just have the calendar.  
Summary: When Teal'c and Janet return from a mundane mission, not everything is as it was before...  
Notes: For Dave, who presented me with the challenge.

* * *

The Stargate shimmered to life on Chulak, an impressive display of blue and ancient power dwarfing the two figures that stood at its base. 

"Thank you for escorting me through your homeland, Mr. Teal'c." Janet smiled, squeezing the large man's upper arm as they ascended the stone stairway. 

Teal'c looked down at her curiously. "You have done much for the people of Chulak. We are honored." 

"It was nothing." Janet's warm smile touched her eyes, filling them with light. "Vaccines should help your people for a long time to come. And It's nice to put faces with the microbes." 

Teal'c inclined his head. 

Together, they stepped through the shimmering puddle... 

...and ambled uneventfully onto the ramp at Stargate Command. Teal'c had taken the trip a hundred times, Fraiser, less than a dozen, but both their movements were natural, their experiences, mundane. Nothing was different. 

Except that General Hammond, waiting to greet them at the end of the ramp, was wearing khakis. Janet was not sure if she'd seen him in beige before, though it was standard issue, and not uncommon in the daily routine of the Air Force. She mentally shrugged. 

"You two weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow," Hammond admonished. "Is everything all right?" 

Teal'c looked at Hammond oddly. Janet could read the black man's expression by the way he tilted his head, as if he were trying to mimic Hammond's height, and approach him on his level. "All is well, General Hammond," he finally said, evasively. 

Hammond nodded curtly. "All right. Fraiser, your team will expect a debriefing in one hour. Teal'c, I think we can dispense, unless you have anything to report." He paused for comments. "Okay, dismissed." 

Hammond turned and strode out of the gateroom, leaving the two of them alone. Teal'c quizzical expression deepened and he turned it on Janet. 

She raised her eyebrows. "I agree. It's strange. But I'm sure everyone's just...busy." Her voice trailed off as she looked around the gateroom. 

"Indeed." 

Two hours after "debriefing" her medical staff, who had given her odd looks when she'd slipped into a white lab coat and began rambling about the medical treatments on Chulak, though they'd remained docile, Janet finally managed to track down Sam. Now she was wondering why she had made such an effort. 

Sam was tossing her distracted looks while peering into a microscope. If Janet didn't know better, she would have read Sam's expression as _What the hell are you doing in my lab?_ Which was silly, because they worked together often. All the time. Normally. Right? She examined the blond. Nothing seemed out of place, except that she was wearing Captain's bars. Had the soldier gotten in trouble? Janet had only been gone two days. Perhaps the clusters were just being polished. 

Janet was frustrated, and more than a little worried. Sam didn't usually shut her out, and Janet wasn't going to patiently figure out what was up Sam's butt. Janet was tired from her mission, and she needed Sam to be Sam, because all she wanted to do is kiss her partner and call it a night. 

Fluidly, Janet stepped closer and bent down to press her lips against Sam's. As soon as their mouths touched Janet froze, and after a moment, she pulled back and looked quizzically at Sam. "You're not yourself." 

Sam's eyes widened as she reached up to brush her hand across her lips. "Neither are you, Major Fraiser. What the hell is going on? " Her stance was non-threatening, but Janet suddenly realized if she was reading Sam's expression correctly, they had never done this before. 

Janet fled from the lab. She had to find Teal'c. 

Teal'c gazed curiously at Dr. Fraiser. "How did you become aware of our situation?" 

Janet set her jaw. Should she tell him? Could she trust him? Could she trust herself? She swallowed, and looked at her hands. After a moment's reflection, she made her decision, and looked up at Teal'c, her eyes dark and luminous. "I kissed her," Janet said shakily. "And that's how I knew." 

Teal'c's face remained impassive. What was he thinking? How was he taking it? Janet wanted to retreat, but she kept her eyes on the man in front of her. Would he abandon her? At the moment, he was all that she had. 

He finally spoke. "I have seen that often on Earth television, but I am surprised to see it as a field technique." His tone was thoughtful. 

Janet stared at him for a moment, and then cleared her throat. "How were you able to tell?" 

Teal'c continued to look introspective. "Everyone smells odd," he revealed. 

Janet exhaled. Well, that was no less weird than her method. She graced Teal'c with a relieved smile. 

He smiled back, presumably in an attempt to comfort her, but it made look his face look slightly frightening. Janet was warmed anyway, and leaned forward to cover his hands with hers. "Do you think it's a foothold situation?" 

Teal'c looked pensive. "We have been given free access, even though it is obvious that we are out ourselves. And we have not been drugged. I think we are safe to continue examining our situation." 

"Okay," Janet exhaled. "Let's explore, and figure this thing out." 

0100 hours. Janet was bent over a computer terminal, sighing in frustration. Sam entered the med lab with an awkward stride. Out of the corner of her eye, Janet saw her wipe her hands on her pants. Now it was her turn to cast the _Who are you, and what are you doing in this lab?_ expression on her friend--a stranger. 

"Hi," Sam said. 

"Hi," Janet looked up, and moved by Sam's obvious distress and her guilt at causing it, favored the tall blond with a smile. Then she turned back to the monitor. 

"What are you doing?" Sam pressed. 

"I'm looking through the solar event logs of the last two hours." 

"You think something happened when you came through the gate?" 

Damn, so she figured it out. "Yeah, maybe." Janet squinted at the screen. 

"Look, Janet..." Sam cleared her throat, pausing until the doctor looked at her. "About earlier, I was taken by surprise, but--" 

"Forget it," Janet said firmly. "It was a mistake." 

"No, I--" Sam looked crestfallen. "Do you want to forget it ever happened?" 

Janet turned back to her work. "I think that would be best." 

"Okay." Sam turned to go, but stopped and looked again at Janet, curiously. "Do you need help?" She indicated the monitor. "With that?" 

Janet exhaled. She wasn't going to figure this out on her own. "Yeah. I'd appreciate it." 

With undisguised glee, Sam threw herself into a chair and rolled over to Janet. "Let's pull up the gate logs from earlier." 

Janet entered Teal'c quarters to find him quietly in a state of kelnoreem. She watched quietly for a moment, before his deep voice interrupted her thoughts. "Would you like to join me, Doctor Fraiser." Everything was a statement with him. 

Wordlessly, she slipped out of her lab coat and knelt before him on the floor, assuming the lotus position carefully amongst the candles. Teal'c was all she had left of the disintegrated universe, and being in his presence calmed her to the core. He opened his eyes to look at her, and she saw the same relief in his countenance. She blushed faintly. 

"The candlelight is different," she murmured. 

"Indeed." Teal'c gathered his words. "Colonel O'Neill is not here. I have not found any trace of him, and I fear to dig deeper, and reveal myself." 

Janet nodded. "Still, it doesn't feel...dangerous. Just different. Things are very much the same, I think." 

Teal'c inclined his head. "If we were forced to remain here, it would tolerable." 

"Not to me!" 

Janet's vehemence surprised Teal'c. His eyes widened. 

"It's not--ours. It's not home. I want to go home." I miss Sam. Janet realized she sounded like a spoiled child. She sighed heavily, her breath blowing out one of the candles. 

"We will do all we can," Teal'c reassured her, but she wondered if his heart was in it as much as hers. 

Janet worked well into the night. Sam had found something, a glitch as the wormhole had formed. Sam sauntered in at 0330 with a coffeepot and two mugs. 

"My salvation," Janet purred, before she caught herself. She rubbed her face wearily. The knot that had been in her stomach since she had kissed Sam twisted inside her, reminding her of her loss. She was slightly nauseous. 

Sam was grinning, and filled the cups. "Any progress?" 

"Not really," Janet sighed, taking her mug and inhaling the toxic, invigorating fumes. 

Sam looked at the screen, then back at Janet. "You're married." 

"What?" Janet nearly dropped her mug. As she steadied herself, she realized that she had probably said the wrong thing. She opened her mouth to correct herself, somehow, but Sam had seemed to expect it. MPs weren't rushing through the door of the lab. A good sign. 

"You're married," Sam reiterated. "To Doctor Daniel Jackson. He's a--" 

"I know who he is," Janet said tersely. 

"But you didn't know you were married to him, did you? You're not wearing your ring. And you kissed me like it was normal. I mean--" Sam corrected herself, as if political correctness was commonplace on this world, too. "I mean, for us." 

Janet covered her head. "I'm not sure how it happened," she started to explain. 

"We're familiar with the quantum mirror technology, but you didn't come through the mirror..." 

"We're familiar with it, too. That's what it seems like... But I don't know how it happened this time." 

Sam chewed on her lower lip. "Is your world--bad?" 

"No, no." Janet shook her head. "It's a lot like this one. Pretty mundane, as far as alternate dimensions go." 

"What if--You could stay?" 

Janet let out a short laugh. "Your own Janet will be back tomorrow." 

"Yeah," Sam conceded. "But I barely know her." Lost in her own thought, she missed Janet's sympathetic expression. 

At 1000 the next morning, after a few hours of sleep in office chairs, Sam had figured it out. She invited Teal'c and General Hammond into the lab, and the four of them sat on rolling chairs. Janet noticed that Hammond seemed rather comfortable here, whereas she was far more used to seeing him in the briefing room. She also noticed that Sam touched Teal'c far more often than Janet remembered, and she wondered if something was going on between them. Or rather, if something was going on between the other Teal'c, and the other Sam. Er, this Sam. Janet shook her head. She had too many relationship problems of her own to worry about it. 

Sam explained how to get them home. It seemed deceptively easy, but Janet, used to trusting the scientist, was eager to try. 

"Captain Carter," Hammond broke in. "Will they be in any danger?" 

Sam bit her lip. "If it doesn't work, sir, they'll just end up on Chulak." 

"Very well," he said. "You have a go." Hammond squinted at the odd looks Janet and Teal'c were giving him. "What?" 

The goodbyes at 1445 had been awkward. Sam and Janet had circled each other, and after a few false starts, Sam had avoided looking at Teal'c altogether, but she hugged Janet loosely and then escaped to the control room to handle the gate procedure. Janet was left feeling oddly hollow. She couldn't help but feel she was abandoning them, even though she knew they weren't in any danger. Probably. Still, she'd never see them again. 

The Stargate had opened, and they began to walk up the ramp toward it. Teal'c seemed to sense her apprehension, and looked benevolently down at her. She would be strong. "Well, Mr. Teal'c, shall we try again?" Janet took his arm. 

"Indeed." 

They stepped through the gate together... 

... "You were supposed to be back yesterday!" Hammond's voice bellowed over the loudspeakers. He headed for the stairs. 

The steel doors slid open and SG1 poured through to greet Teal'c and Janet, their faces curious and relieved. 

"Dr. Fraiser," Teal'c voice was low as he surveyed the scene at the bottom of the ramp. "How do we know it's really them?" 

Janet paled. He couldn't expect--"How do they smell?" 

Teal'c walked halfway down the ramp, toward the group that was pelting him with questions. He ignored the noise, and spoke only to Janet. "They smell satisfactory." 

Janet nodded. _Whew_. 

"But I believe we should have consensus," Teal'c continued calmly. "At the moment, you are the only one I trust," he spoke to Janet. 

Every figure in the gateroom went silent and stared at Teal'c. Then, cautiously, as if they had been infested by aliens, four pairs of eyes, not to the mention six pairs in the control room, slid over to Janet. 

_Christ._

Teal'c looked at her expectantly. Was he smirking? 

Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Jackson, Major Carter, and General Hammond looked at her expectantly. 

_Shit._

Janet threw back her shoulders, and walked down the ramp. She stopped directly in front of Sam and managed in a throaty voice, "Major Carter, could you lean down?" 

Major Carter cautiously leaned down, as if Janet were going to bite her. She moved so slowly that Janet, impatient and terrified and desperate to get this over with, had to lift herself on her toes to press her mouth against Sam's lips. 

Janet had anticipated Sam's reaction and remained poised when the taller woman jerked backward. "Janet?" Sam breathed, gawking at the smaller woman. 

Janet turned to face Teal'c. "It's her," she reported, smiling with satisfaction. 

Teal'c ambled down the ramp. "You're sure?" 

Fraiser nodded. 

"Your technique is fascinating," Teal'c said. 

"_No shit_", Carter and O'Neill muttered simultaneously, and then glanced at each other. 

"I am curious as to how it works," Teal'c pondered out loud, and then grabbed Colonel O'Neill's face in his two large hands, and kissed him solidly on the lips. 

Jack had the oddest expression on his face as he fought Teal'c off of him. "What the hell was THAT, buddy?" He exclaimed, wobbling slightly from the force he was exerting on the larger man, and the surprise of the kiss. 

Hammond looked smug. He folded his thick arms over his chest, and waited for an explanation to unfold. 

Daniel looked startled. 

Sam doubled over with laughter, her hand on Janet's shoulder in order to remain on her feet. 

Janet's eyes were wide with shock as she absorbed the scene before her. Teal'c's action had completely distracted her from her own embarrassment. Sam's chuckling in her ear was contagious, and when Teal'c raised a bemusement eyebrow at all the commotion, Janet finally broke into a wide smile. 

Daniel finally found his voice and began to tease his friend. "Wait, Jack," he was saying, reaching up to rub an imaginary smudge at Jack's cheek. "I think there's a little lipstick--" 

The everyone in the gate room and control room had their eyes on the men at the bottom of the ramp, even Janet, totally enthralled by the chaos, jumped when Sam's arms suddenly encircled her waist. The blond was still laughing, and her hands danced along Janet's ribs. Janet giggled. "Double standard?" She whispered to Sam. 

Anyone who glanced at them would have found the pose mundane, and would quickly turn back to Jack, who was trying to justify his best mate's strange behavior. "We're friends, right?" He clamped Teal'c shoulder, but bobbed his gray head far out of range of the Jaffa's dangerous lips. "Friends _do_ stuff." He waved his arms. 

"Oh yeah." Sam's breath tickled Janet's ear, and with her blue eyes still sparkling with amusement at the scene in front of her, she whispered, "Love you," so that only Janet could hear. Sam kissed Janet's neck, right below her ear, quickly. Then she released the smaller woman and gave her full attention to the unfolding drama before her. 

"General, I demand that I be the team leader for any future trips to orgy planets," Jack was saying. "With the doctor." He tossed a glance in Janet's direction and winked. "You know..." He stopped when he saw Teal'c's curious expression. "What?" 

Janet's laughter increased, and she felt a mild hysteria. Eight hours ago, she was afraid everything had changed, and now, nothing had. She took Sam's hand, lacing their fingers together, as she leaned outward, unable to stop the joy bubbling up inside of her. Sam's grip was firm, and Janet's relief was immense. She was home.

* * *


End file.
